Passengers were left sweating for three hours in temperatures of up to 31C (88F) on one of the company's planes as it waited to take off from Rome's Fiumicino Airport on Saturday.

People had to make do with just one complimentary soft drink each during the delay.

The Manchester-bound flight was eventually cancelled and, after disembarking at about 5.30pm, holidaymakers spent two-and-a-half hours sweltering inside the airport before being told overnight hotels were being organised for them.

A number of people, however, ended up paying as much as £80 for taxi rides to their accommodation because of the lack of space on a shuttle bus laid on at Fiumicino.

The situation then turned ugly at one hotel the following morning when a solitary half-full coach turned up – even though an estimated 140 people were waiting to be ferried back to the airport.

Yorkshire holidaymaker Deborah Hastie, 38, from Tadcaster, said: "It was like a free-for-all.

"Mums and kids were trying to squeeze onto the bus and getting pushed off.

"All the time at the hotel that morning we never saw one person from Jet2.

"I don't know how we would have got to the airport if we hadn't managed to persuade an off-duty driver to get his coach and help us out."

The flight finally left at 10.46am – nearly 24 hours after its original departure time.

It had been due to take off at 11.29am on Saturday but initial delays meant passengers did not get on until 2.30 that afternoon.

A spokesman for Jet2.com today apologised to passengers for the problems, which began with what he described as a "small technical fault" on the aircraft.

He said that, like many other airlines, the firm did not have its own staff on the ground at Rome.

"This incident is being reviewed in detail with our handling agent at Rome to ensure better communication and service is given should an issue like this occur again," added the spokesman.